Saturday, January 8
12:00 noon
Puerto Vallarta Restaurant
11 N Center St
Stockton, CA 95202
(209) 937-0925
We will visit the Hotel Stockton between 2:30-3:30 pm. It is less than 3 blocks away from the restaurant.
12/4: Indiana chapter holiday gathering in Kimmell
The public is invited to the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association’s Holiday Gathering and House Tour at the Kimmell House Bed & Breakfast on the historic Lincoln Highway!
Kimmell House Inn Bed & Breakfast
1397 N US Highway 33
Kimmell, IN 46760
Saturday, December 4, 2010 at 2 p.m. EST
(pre-register by Wednesday, December 1)
Cost: $16 (includes entrée, beverage, tax, and gratuity)
Bring a friend!
This unique event includes food and drink; a tour of the historic rural property, which is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places; and auctioning of holiday gift baskets. Lincoln Highway merchandise will be for sale, and attendees are invited to share news from along the Lincoln Highway. An update on the Indiana Lincoln Highway byway application with INDOT will be given. Come join the holiday festivities in grand style and get acquainted with members of this non-profit organization that are working to preserve and promote the Lincoln Highway and bring economic development to northern Indiana! Casual attire. Antiques autos are welcome!
Please pre-register by December 1 by mailing a check payable to INLHA and mail to:
Indiana Lincoln Highway Association
402 W. Washington Street
South Bend, IN 46601
For more information, call (574) 210-6278 or go to www.indianalincolnhighway.org.
The association is delighted to hold this year’s holiday event at the Kimmell House Inn in Kimmell, Indiana. This unique historic property welcomes overnight and casual dining opportunities to travelers, and we are so fortunate to have it on the corridor.
This bed and breakfast, owned by Dean and Deb Stoops, is one of several bed and breakfasts along the Lincoln Highway corridor in Indiana. It is certainly a beautiful and unique setting for tourists and locals alike. The owners will provide a personal tour of the property to all of those attending.
Places like this lure tourists off the interstates to experience the wide variety of local people, food, and culture across northern Indiana. We hope the public will support the inn and our association’s mission. The Indiana Lincoln Highway Association works to increase the public’s knowledge about America’s early auto highways and Indiana’s role in auto and travel history. These efforts bring tourism and economic development to northern Indiana.
So, come spend a bit of time in Kimmell, Indiana!
– Jan Shupert-Arick, President, Indiana Lincoln Highway Association
Introduction to Kimmell
Post card courtesy of Russell Rein
Kimmell is located Noble County, Indiana. The first county seat was in Kimmell, which was known as Sparta at the time. The town is located on the old Fort Wayne-to-Goshen Trail, which later became part of American’s first coast-to-coast auto highway, the Lincoln Highway, in 1913, and is now US 33.
Today, Gaerte Grain is the hub of rural Kimmell, with huge silos standing as monuments to this tiny town’s rural past and present. Once one of the largest distribution points in the nation for onions, old warehouses still line the tracks of the B & O railroad. Noble County’s soil made both onion and mint crops some of the country’s best. Popcorn was also stored and shipped from Kimmell warehouses, but today’s commodities are corn and soybeans.
Noble County is also home to the last remaining brick paver section of the Lincoln Highway in Indiana, just south of Ligonier.
Just to the south of Kimmell is the Kimmell House Inn, a stately solid brick Italianate mansion built in 1876. For more information and for driving directions, visit kimmellhouseinn.com.
Happy Halloween Along the Lincoln Highway in Indiana!
In the spirit of the original Lincoln Highway Association’s 1913 announcement of the selected Lincoln Highway route across the nation, Indiana farmers placed jack-o-lanterns on fence posts to celebrate the road and greet travelers. To add to your Halloween fun this October, we suggest visiting the following sites along the Lincoln Highway:
Merriam Cemetery, gravesite of the first Uncle Sam – Noble County
St. Louis Besancon Cemetery, a French settlement cemetery east of New Haven – Allen County
The Haunted Jail in Columbia City – Whitley County
Railroad Death Crossing Site at New Carlisle, near the Old Republic on the hill overlooking New Carlisle – St. Joseph County
The Old Bag Factory in Goshen, a haunted factory site – Elkhart County
Participate Fright Night Activities & Zombie Walk in downtown Fort Wayne – Oct. 23
Next California Chapter meeting: Sat 10/2
Saturday, October 2
12:00 noon
Original Mike’s Diner (in the back room)
9139 E Stockton Blvd #3
Elk Grove, CA 95624
(916) 686-8488
The first topic will be the lost two miles of the pre-1927 Lincoln Highway, between Arno and Valensin Ranch, presented by Mike Kaelin and Bruce McFarland. We will have a short field trip afterwards on parts of the old roads near Arno that are drivable.
The second topic will be preparations for next year’s national conference at Tahoe, by Paul Gilger, conference co-chair and chapter vice-president. Other agenda items will be announced by chapter president Norm Root and state director Bob Dieterich.
Members of the Wilton History Group, Elk Grove Historical Society, and Galt Area Historical Society will be joining us.
2010 Lincoln Highway Buy-Way Yard Sale: August 5-7
The fifth annual Lincoln Highway Buy-Way, a yard sale that stretches across hundreds of miles, will be held from Thursday, August 5 to Saturday, August 7. This year, five states are participating: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia. Here is more information on how to participate in the Buy-Way:
Next California Chapter meeting: Sat 4/10
Saturday, April 10, 2010
12:00 noon
Ciro’s Pizza Cafe
241 Blue Ravine Rd.
Folsom, CA 95630
[Google Map]
Have you ever heard of the Chinese Diggings?
by Norm Root
The Chinese Diggings are a historical destination right beside the Lincoln Highway, located at the northwest corner of Folsom Boulevard and U.S. Highway 50, in southwest Folsom. The diggings are a group of narrow ditches about 18 inches wide and up to 30 feet deep, laid out in a herringbone format, which form a unique sluice box system for washing gold. The system was owned by the Natomas Gold Mining Company and worked by Chinese laborers.
The California Chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association was notified recently by the city of Folsom that the owners of the property have applied to build a four-story hotel on the property. Lloyd Johnson will lead us on a tour of the diggings following the chapter meeting. This part of the Lincoln Highway, Folsom Boulevard, is not on any of our normal tours, so we seldom get to see it.
During the meeting, Kell Brigan will tell about her ongoing research study of Routier Station, which is in this same area. Anyone who has photographs of Folsom Boulevard is encouraged to bring them to the meeting to share.
We will meet for lunch at Ciro’s Pizza Cafe, at 241 Blue Bird Ravine in Folsom, Saturday April 10 at noon. From the Folsom Blvd off-ramp from U.S. 50, head north on Folsom Boulevard. Turn right (east) onto Blue Ravine Road. Ciro’s is on the southwest corner of Blue Ravine and Prairie City Road. Turn right into the driveway off of Blue Ravine at the beginning of the right turn lane onto Prairie City Road. You can eat for $7.37 and up to more than $20. (Unfortunately, the advertised $6.99 buffet lunch is not available on Saturdays.)
Nominations for Preservation Opportunities list open
The Lincoln Highway Association is taking nominations for sites to be added to our Preservation Opportunities list, which will be used to draw attention to their plight. This list will be announced at the National Conference in Dixon, Illinois in June 2010.
Nominations are due May 1, 2010.
Spring events for Indiana LHA on 4/17
The Indiana chapter of the Lincoln Highway Association is holding its spring events in Warsaw and Winona Lake Saturday, April 17, 2010.
10:00 am
Warsaw: Lincoln Highway Kiosk Dedication
The public is invited!
W Old Road 30 at 350 W
Join the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association and the Kosciusko County Historical Society at the Chinworth Bridge Trailhead for a dedication program and celebration of Warsaw’s Lincoln Highway heritage!
12:30 pm
Winona Lake: Lunch at the Boat House Restaurant and Geocaching
Reservations required
Enjoy this lovely location along the shore of Winona Lake and get geocache locations at closing of this event. The annual gathering of the Indiana Lincoln Highway Association will feature a kick-off of a high-tech Geocaching Adventure along the Indiana Lincoln Highway, updates on the Scenic Byway Application with the State of Indiana, and an annual auction-fundraiser. Enjoy Lunch on the shores of Winona Lake!
12:30 p.m. Browse displays and auction items
1:00 p.m. Lunch with guest speaker
Phil Worrall, Executive Director, Indiana Geographic Information Council, will kick off the INLHA Geocaching Project and entertain us with this new high tech adventure for Indiana’s Lincoln Highway! This project is funded through the Indiana Humanities Council and Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana. Attendees will be given locations of caches at the end of this event – be the first to find a cache!
Updates on Indiana LH Byway application, special projects, and a live auction fundraiser!
Cost: $22.00 (includes entreÌe ordered from group lunch menu, beverage, tax, gratuity, and registration fee)
For reservations, contact Joyce Chambers at (574) 272-5374 by April 10.
Postal cancellation for the 2009 LHA conference available until July 18
![[image of LHA stamp cancellation]](https://lincolnhighwayassoc.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/lh_stamp_cancellation-600px.jpg "LHA Stamp Cancellation")
Postal cancellations from the 2009 LHA conference are now available for a limited time. [View larger image]
Pictorial postmarks are available only for the dates indicated, and requests must be postmarked no later than 30 days following the requested pictorial postmark date, no later than July 18, 2009.
All requests must include a stamped envelope or postcard bearing at least the minimum First-Class Mail postage. Items submitted for postmark may not include postage issued after the date of the requested postmark. Such items will be returned unserviced.
To obtain a postmark, affix stamps to any envelope or postcard of your choice, address the envelope or postcard to yourself or someone else, insert a card of postcard thickness in envelopes for sturdiness, and tuck in the flap. Place the envelope or postcard in a larger envelope and address it to:
PICTORIAL POSTMARKS/Post Master
South Bend Station
424 South Michigan Street
South Bend, IN 46601
You can also send stamped envelopes and postcards without addresses for postmark, as long as you supply a larger envelope with adequate postage and your return address. After applying the pictorial postmark, the Postal Service will return the items (with or without addresses) under addressed protective cover.
Happy collecting!
WWI-era motorcycles to commemorate 1919 Army convoy at inauguration
On Jan. 20, the Wheels Through Time American Transportation Museum in Maggie Valley [North Carolina], will be making history once again — this time, participating in the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Day Parade. During the historic event, the museum will bring a small fleet of WWI era motorcycles to Washington to participate in a procession celebrating the 90th Anniversary of the transcontinental Army motor convoy on the Lincoln Highway in 1919.
- Local museum to participate in Presidential Inauguration Day Parade, Asheville (N.C.) Citizen-Times, January 5, 2009